Well drilling machine



Sept. 12, 1950 e. c. TOWER WELL-DRILLING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 9, 1947 Sept. 12, 1950 G. c. TOWER 7 2,522,412

' WELL-DRILLING MACHINE Filed May 9. 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 f Y a .5. I L v if II,

Patented Sept. 12, 1950 t WELL, DRI IQLING MACHINE I George C. Tower-,Eethany, Conn.,assignor to Edward S- Russell, New Haven, Conn.

' Application Mays, 1947,.S erial No. 747,011

3'Gla'im's (erasewith" a' well drillingrigit will-be understood thatf the principles of the invention are-equally applicable to other-tools ofsimilar character.

The drilling of wells, whether deep or relatively"shallow,is somewhat expensive due to the fact that the apparatus required usually entails a'considerable investment. It" is" contemplated by the present inventionto provide'a well-drilling apparatus of very simple construction, sothat it may be manufactured and sold at arelatively'low cost, and, at the same time, the device will be efiicient in operation and will also ha've'all of the functions required in a device'of this character:-

In carrying out my invention, I provide a frame of generally triangular shape uponwhich the mechanism is mounted, the frame supporting a slide upon" which is carried the cable by which" the tOO'L'lIl'thlS case a drill, is'suspended. Cam means are provided for raising the slide to an elevated position and permitting it to drop by gravity so that the' ltool is urged by gravity against the face of thework'., g

A source of power is also mounted on the frame, and means'are provided for adjusting the distance through which the tool is raised,'so that the forceof the resulting "stroke may be regulated.

Also; as Will be obvious in a device of this kind. where thetool is carried by or suspended upon theend of a cable, it is necessary in the drilling of a welhfor example, for the length of the cable to be gradually increased as the depth of the drilling increases. In the present, device, this increase in the length of the cable may be auto matically efiected, so thatlittle attention on the part-of the operator isrequired in a drilling operation.

One object of the present invention is to pro- A still further object of the invention is-to 'p ovide a device of the character described in which the'tool is suspended by a cable trained overa pulley, which pulley is in turn carried by .a reciprocating slide, and to provide means for paying out thec'able from a drumor thelike as needed, depending upon the depth of the drilling.

To these and other ends the invention c'on sists in the novel features and combinations of partstb be hereinafter described and'claimed In the-accompanying drawings:

Fig. l is a side elevational View ofv a well-drill ing apparatus embodyingfmy invention; i

Fig. 2 is a front elevational-view there'ofll Fig. 3 is a sectional ,viewon line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is affront elevational view of thedrumi handle; I Fig. 5 is a sectional view on line ii -50f Fig. 1;. and 1 Fig. 6 is a sectional view online 3t" of. Fig. 4b

To illustrate a preferred embodimentofmy in vention, I have shown inthe drawingsfa-frame comprising, a pair of substantially upright mem-;

wardly'to substantially the same level as the.

i lower ends of the upright members. H3, and consupport.

vide a new and improved well-drilling 'or like machine of simple and inexpensive character. v

A further. object of'the invention is to provide awell-drilling machine having a frame in which is mounted a slide supporting the drilling tool, the slide being raised by cam means rotatably necting each pair of-members w and H are horizontally disposed. members 52, thus completing a substantiallytriangular frame, each .of the 1 members of which are arranged in spaced pairs.

To the lower ends of the members it issecured a horizontally extending foot member i3,-and,- likewise, to the lower ends of the members is secured a horizontally extending member [4, both members 13 and I' l being designed to rest upon the ground so as to give the frame a stable support. Also, the upper ends of the upright mem bers ill may besecured together by a transverse member l5 (Fig. 2 in order to provide a stable;

As shown more especially in Figs. 2 and.3, the upright members 10' are U-shapedor channel-. shaped in cross. section with the channels facing each. other, so thatthese channels form guidee ways for a reciprocating slide. This slide is formed by the spaced parallel members I6 and H, one mounted. within the channel ofeach of the upright members Ill. The members It and H are secured together adjacent their upper endsl by, a rod or shaft Land, likewise, .at their lower. ends by a rodcr shaft 59, and each of the. members l5 and H is provided with a longitudinal slot 2il(Fig.3)'. I Upon the upper shaft l 8 is rotatably. mounted a cam follower in the form of a roller 2|, which roller is urged by gravity downwardly into engagement with the surface of a cam 22 secured to a shaft 23, which shaft is rotatably mounted in the upright members l0, and, as shown in Fig. 3, extends through the slots 20 in the members l6 and l! of the slide, so that the slide may reciprocate with respect to the shaft as permitted by the length of the slot.

It may be noted that the cam is of the eccentric form, and is provided with a spirally formed external surface 24 with which the roller 2| is in engagement, this surface terminating at a high point 25 from which a substantially radially disposed surface 26 extends toward the axis of the shaft 23. Thus, it will be apparent that, when the roller 2| is in the position shown in Fig. l and the cam 22 moves in a clockwise direction from that position, the roller 2| will be caused to drop downwardly by gravity along the substantially radially extending portion 26 of the cam, which will then be in a substantially vertical position, the roller dropping tothe position shown in Fig. 3. This will permit the slide to drop from its raised position to its lowermost position in which the tool engages the work.

Upon the shaft 23 is secured a gear 28, the teeth of which are in mesh with those of a pinion 29 secured to a stud shaft 30 mounted on one of the frame members l0. Secured upon the stud shaft 30 is a pulley 3| around which is trained a belt 32, which belt is also trained around a pulley 33 carried by the drive shaft 34 of a source of power 35 which may be a gasoline engine or electric motor, for example. By mounting this power source upon the frame, the device will be self-contained, so that power will not be required from an outside source.

Rotatably mounted upon the shaft I9 adjacent the. lower end of the slide is a pulley 3! about which is trained a cable 38 to the free end of which is secured the tool 39, which in the present instance is a drill. The cable 38 is wound upon a drum 4!! (Figs. 2 and this drum being carried by a shaft 4| rotatably mounted in the inclined members II. The shaft 41 is extended at one end, and upon this extended end is mounted a brake drum 48, which is embraced by a brake band 49, the ends of which are connected to a lever 50 pivoted at 51 to the adjacent inclined member I I. ratchet teeth 52 adapted to be engaged by a link 53 pivoted at 54 to the inclined member H, this link being adapted to hold the lever 50 in any adjusted position, so that the brake band may be tightened or loosened with respect to the drum.

In order that the drum 4!] may be rotated manually to reel-up or pay-off the cable 38, a crank 56 is provided, this crank carrying a handle 51. As shown in Figs. 4 and 6, the upper end of the crank is reversely bent in U-shaped form, and this part of the crank is slotted, as shown at 58, and is also provided with registering openings -59 to receive the outer end of the shaft 4|. The extreme end of this shaft is squared, as shown at 60 (Figs. 4 and 6), and the opening 59 in the outer part of the crank is of similar shape, so that there will be no tendency of the latter to rotate upon the shaft. The two portions of the crank on either side of the slot 58 may be clamped together by means of the bolt 6! and nut '62 carried thereby. The head 63 and the nut of the bolt bears against washers 64 which engage the outer edges of the U-shaped portion of the crank.

The lever 50 is provided with 4 It will be seen that tightening the nut 62 will urge these two parts of the crank toward each other, so as securely to clamp the crank upon the shaft M.

It is desirable to provide for adjustment of the stroke of the tool, and this may be done by varying the direction or the length of the cable 38 between the drum 40 and the pulley 31. For this purpose additional pulleys 66 and 6'! are provided upon the frame. As will be apparent when the cable is trained around the pulley 61, it extends in a substantially vertical direction to the pulley 31, and, therefore, when the slide is raised together with the pulley 31, the drill will be raised through a distance substantially twice as great as that through which the slide is raised.

The pulley 66 is above the pulley 31, even when the latter is in its uppermost position, and when the cable is passed around the pulley 66, the drill will be raised through a considerably lesser distance than that through which the slide is raised, thus giving the shortest stroke to the tool. When, however, the cable passes directly from the drum 40 to the pulley 31, a stroke will be provided which is intermediate in length to that provided when the cable is trained around the pulleys 66 and 67.

Upon the inside of the upright member III are provided stop blocks 68 and 69 in position to engage the lower ends of the slid elements It and I? when the latter is in its lowermost position. Usually, of course, the drill will drop upon the work. When, however, the depth of the drilling is such as to be at the limit of the length of the cable 38, these stops will prevent the cam follower 2| from striking the cam when the slide drops.

While I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention, it will b understood that it is not to be limited to all of the details shown, but is capable of modification and variation within the spirit of the invention and within the scope of the claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a device of the character described, a frame comprising a pair of spaced upright members channel-shaped in cross section, said members being disposed with the channel in one member facing that in the other member, a slide movably mounted between said members, said slide comprising spaced elements mounted in said channels and means for rigidly holding said elements in spaced relation, a cam rotatably mounted between said spaced upright members, a cam follower mounted between, and rotatably supported by, said spaced elements and adapted to follow the peripheral surface of the cam, a pulley rotatably mounted between said spaced elements of the slide adjacent the lower portion thereof, a cable passing over said pulley, said cable having a depending end carrying a drill, and means on the frame to which the other end of said cable is attached.

frame comprising a pair of spaced upright members channel-shaped in cross section, said members being disposed with the channel in one member facing that in the other member, a slide movably mounted between said members, said slide comprising spaced elements mounted in said channels and means for rigidly holding said elements in spaced relation, a cam rotatably mounted between said spaced upright members, a cam follower mounted between, and rotatably supported by, said spaced elements and adapted to follow the peripheral surface of the cam. a

' pulley rotatably mounted between said spaced elements of the slide adjacent the lower portion thereof, a cable passing over said pulley, said cable having a depending end carrying a drill,

means on the frame to which the other end of the cable is attached, and a pulley mounted on the frame to change the direction of said cable in its passage from said attaching means to the pulley on the slide.

8 slide elements in position to engage said roller, a pulley carried by the slide between the spaced elements threof, a drill-supporting cable trained over said pulley, and means for rotating said cam.

GEORGE C. TOWER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the 3. Awell-drilling rig comprisinga substantially 10 file f this patent;

triangular frame, each of the legs of which comprises a pair of spaced-apart members, one of said pairs of members being substantially vertical and having guideways in their opposing faces, a slide comprising spaced elements, one

1 of which is mounted in each of said guideways,

a roller rotatably mounted between said slide elements, a cam rotatably carried by the vertical members of the frame and disposed between said UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 48,892 Bates July 25, 1865 488,116 De La Mare et al. Dec. 13, 1892 622,459 Freeman Apr. 4, 1899 1779,671 Simpkins Jan. 10, 1905 1,439,012 Schadek Apr. 1, 1924 

